What is the distance from Earth to Jupiter - the largest planet in the Solar System?

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What is the distance from Earth to Jupiter ? If you don't know, this article will tell you how far Jupiter is from Earth .

Jupiter, one of the three gas giant planets in our solar system. This star is extremely beautiful to see at night because it is always bright but sometimes brighter than usual.

This is a common phenomenon on gas giant planets near Earth, and it will have interesting changes over time.

Let's find out how this happens, why, and what the distance from Earth to Jupiter is!

Jupiter is 365 million miles away from Earth at its closest and 601 million miles away at its farthest. Like all planets, Jupiter has an elliptical orbit around the Sun. This means that the distance between Jupiter and the Sun, and us, is constantly changing depending on where we are in our respective orbits. Sometimes when Jupiter is behind the Sun (where Jupiter, the Sun, and Earth are aligned), it moves as far away as 601 million miles.

Photo of Jupiter and the Moon on the morning of September 8, 2012. Photo credit: Starry Night software

Distance from Earth to Jupiter?

Because both planets orbit the Sun on an elliptical path, the distance from Earth to Jupiter is constantly changing. When the two planets are at their closest, Jupiter is only 365 million miles ( 588 million km ) away. At its closest, Jupiter shines so bright that even Venus appears dim in comparison. At its farthest, the gas giant is 601 million miles (968 million km) from Earth.

It takes Jupiter 11.86 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. As Earth orbits the Sun, it passes Jupiter every 398.9 days, causing the gas giant to appear to be moving backwards in the night sky. This retrograde motion caused a number of problems for the original center-centered ( or "Copernican" ) models of the Solar System, whose perfect circles did not clearly explain the loops Jupiter and the other planets make. It was not until Johannes Kepler determined that the planets move in ellipses rather than circles that the problem was clarified.

See also: Unknown facts about the asteroid belt

Distance from Jupiter to the Sun?

Moving in elliptical orbits means that the planets are not always at a constant distance from the Sun. At its closest position, or perihelion, Jupiter is 460 million miles (741 million km) from the stars; at its farthest position, or aphelion, it is 508 million miles (817 million km). The average distance from Earth to Jupiter is 484 million miles (778 million km).

As these two planets orbit each other, the system has its own center of mass that is usually located near the more massive object. This is the point around which both planets orbit. So, although the planets orbit around the Sun, both the Sun and the planets actually orbit around the center of mass. This means that the planets have a center of mass not only with the Sun but also with the other planets. However, the giant Sun is located centrally between the center of mass, Earth, and Mercury.

In the Solar System, the center of mass of most solar planetary systems ( Sun-Earth, Sun-Venus, etc. ) lies within our giant star. But because Jupiter is so large, the center of mass in the Jupiter-Solar System is actually outside the diameter of the Sun. It is the only planet whose center of mass does not lie on the Sun's boundary. As Jupiter orbits the Sun, the giant planet tugs on its star. Observing similar motions in other stars allowed scientists to discover some of the first exoplanets.

See also: Discover amazing facts about our cosmic planet

How long does it take to get to Jupiter?

The time it takes for a spacecraft to reach a gas giant depends on a number of factors. The trajectory of a spacecraft often varies, as it flies away from planets, the Moon, and even the Sun to gain speed while using less fuel.

The Galileo spacecraft was launched in October 1989. It took just over six years to reach the gas giant, arriving in December 1995. However, the Galileo spacecraft took a circuitous route, traveling a distance of 2.5 billion miles past Venus, Earth and the asteroid Gaspra to reach Jupiter.

Voyager 1 , on the other hand, took just two years to reach the gas giant. Launched on September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 made its closest approach to the gas giant on March 5, 1979. This was the Voyager mission designed to take advantage of the ideal layout of the outer planets.

The New Horizons mission had a clearer path after its launch on January 19, 2006. On February 28, 2007, it made a flyby of Jupiter en route to Pluto and other dwarf planets. The travel time to Jupiter took just over 13 months.

Juno , launched on August 5, 2011, took five years to reach the gas giant planet, arriving on July 4, 2016.

The European Space Agency plans to launch the Jupiter ICY Moons Explorer (JUICE) to Jupiter in June 2022. JUICE will rely on the gravitational pull of Venus and Earth to make a 7.6-year journey around the gas giant.

NASA said the agency will launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft , to Jupiter's moon Europa, with an expected arrival in 2020. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, a successor to the space shuttle, could be ready for launch as early as 2018. Once it leaves the launch pad, it can carry 70 tons of cargo into orbit and reduce travel time from eight years to three years.

“ This is one of those rare cases where time really is money ,” former astronaut John Grunsfeld , associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, shared in July 2015.

The travel time to the gas giant planet for each mission is different, depending not only on the propulsion technology, but also on the order of the planets.

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